Insurance

Whether you have a set of shiny new wheels or a decaying rust bucket, cheap car insurance is a must for staying legal on the road. The good news? You have more control over factors that influence your car insurance rates than those that affect other types of coverage, such as life insurance or home …

If you’re looking for the best home insurance in 2015, there are plenty of national and local insurance companies that will want your business. However, it’s hard to decide which company to pick with so many choices. Companies like Amica Mutual stand out in customer surveys, but they aren’t available everywhere. The best way to …

Before we pass our road test and receive a freshly minted driver’s license, we learn one of the most important facts about driving: Being charged with a moving violation is costly. Most of us have the facts imparted first by a driving instructor and then reinforced by a concerned parent, who assures us that the …

Our pets are many things — companions, protectors, and servants. They are warm and fuzzy. They bring smiles to our faces and joy to our hearts. Our pets are good for our emotional well-being as well as our physical health. Our pets are members of the family that are woven into many of our fondest …

The subject of variable life insurance brings to mind a fake “Saturday Night Live” commercial for a product called Shimmer. In the spoof, Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner play a married couple arguing about whether Shimmer is a floor wax or a dessert topping; they ultimately agree it’s both. Variable life insurance is a hybrid that, like …

Since Jan. 1, my family has been without traditional health insurance for the first time in our lives. Sounds scary, but it wasn’t a decision we took lightly, or one we made voluntarily. Due to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, the Anthem plan we had last year was …

There’s a reason your mother said that if you can’t be a doctor, marry one — because there’s lots of money to be made in health care. But if you missed the bus to medical school and you haven’t married a doctor, there’s still lots of money to be made from being a health care professional, …

Annuities are not complicated, which is why so many people find them appealing. They come in two basic types — immediate and deferred — with two ways of calculating earnings — fixed and variable. Immediate annuities: As their name implies, these begin paying you as soon as you buy them. Payments are based on your original …

So you want to pack up all your cares and woes and retire overseas. The world is full of possibilities, from hundreds of thousands of miles of warm and habitable coastline to mountain towns and cosmopolitan cities on six continents. Your retirement benefits including Social Security will travel to your destination. However, one thing that …

When it comes to health care, the most common question is: Will my costs go up in 2015? The answer is a resounding… absolutely maybe! There are multiple answers. The cost of health care services will be going up in 2015. That means doctors and hospitals will increase their fees. The same is true for lab …

Your bags are packed, you’ve found a sitter for the dog, and you’ve suspended your newspaper subscription for a few days. That can only mean one thing: You’re going on a trip. This year, consumers will take 1.6 billion leisure trips across the United States, reports the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group. Nearly eight in …

The best travel insurance can help cushion the financial blow in case of situations that can upend an expensive, carefully planned trip. Whether you’re suddenly dealing with an unexpected illness, a death in the family, a missed flight, or even a lost suitcase, all of these scenarios have the potential to cancel or ruin your …

Promises, promises. Insurance is all about promises. Policyholders promise to pay their premiums and insurance companies promise to pay claims in a timely manner. On the surface, it’s a straightforward proposition, unless the insurance company can’t afford to pay all its claims. Policyholders are not alone in that fear. For many investors, particularly casual investors, …

Any doubt about the depth of wisdom of a mother’s time-honored aphorism to “share and share alike” has been laid to rest by the meteoric rise of the sharing economy. From Airbnb to Zipcar and an ever-growing list of collaborative enterprises, the opportunities for consumers and entrepreneurs abound almost equally. No matter whether you attribute …

Retirement is probably the most anticipated and planned-for milestone of our lives. When it finally arrives, it does so silently like an overnight snowfall that, even though it was expected, renders a once-familiar landscape alien. Retirement planning lends itself to metaphors that reference nest eggs and shedding the chains of responsibility. When it comes to insurance …

At the end of the year, we can all get a little scatterbrained. Between work deadlines, gift shopping, baking treats for the kids’ holiday parties, making travel arrangements, and stressing over what to write in the greeting card, there’s just not enough time to get everything done. So we forget stuff — important stuff like our flexible …

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), Obamacare, the individual health-care mandate, health savings accounts, high deductibles — how in the world are you supposed to find the best health insurance companies? Unfortunately, picking a top health insurance company isn’t as straightforward as finding a low rate on car insurance, for instance. The best company and plan …

You’re sitting in your favorite chair when you hear the sound of screeching tires, followed by breaking glass and crunching metal. Before you even have a chance to get up and see what’s happening, a 1977 Cadillac Coupe Deville crashes through your living room wall, knocking you from your chair and breaking your right arm …

A business is a business regardless of where it’s located. That includes home-based businesses, which is why decisions about insurance should be based on need and not location. Each of the almost 40 million home-based businesses in the United States is unique. From the smallest part-time venture to multimillion-dollar international enterprises, they all need insurance to …

Books worth budgeting for

My new book, The Simple Dollar: How One Man Wiped Out His Debts and Achieved the Life of His Dreams, is available in bookstores now. Check out some of the life-changing experiences the book has given readers!

Check out my book, 365 Ways to Live Cheap, available in bookstores everywhere! It's filled with 365 great tactics you can apply to your personal finances, from frugal tips to great ideas for managing your money.